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Safari on my phone is stacked with articles I mean to read. Which means it was just today that I read a months-old article in Entrepreneur magazine about the five communications skills you need to succeed at business.

I really like four of them. Be respectful. Be authentic. Be thoughtful. Be compassionate.

Yes, yes, yes, yes to all of that.

But the fifth made make that hissing sound that comes from sucking air through your teeth. It was Be Careful. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in thinking before you speak and staying on brand. But this was on TOP of the four conditions above. My interpretation of that? Don’t take risks.

Risks are necessary. Experimentation. Creativity. Even failure – all necessary for growth.

I hope that for you, IABC/Topeka is a place where you feel safe and welcome to take risks – and embrace new successes.

If you’ve met me, you know that I have both a day-job and a freelance effort. In my freelance work, I recently completed a website IN SIX DAYS. It was nothing short of a caffeine-fueled miracle. Now we’re on to edits and minor adjustments, and the client is a little confused why edits aren’t being done AS FAST as the miracle site itself. Obviously, I have a communication opportunity here to established expectations. But the experience overall made me reflect on my time and priorities. There is a meme-able quote floating around that says:

"Friendly Reminder that “Doing Your Best” does not mean working yourself to the point of a complete breakdown."

This is a good reminder for individuals AND groups. For example, your IABC board works really hard to keep this chapter going. Sometimes that is a scary thing in the face of more focused groups (there’s a social media club in Topeka) and less expensive groups (AdFed is cool like that). At the end of the day though, IABC is still the International Association of Business Communicators – and that is something all its own, with unparalleled online professional development resources, and a community history that is decades long. It’s worth working for: Our Awesome Christmas Party, Our Unique Jobs Board, Our Monthly Programming. Our chapter is Topeka’s own caffeine-fueled miracle.

But the edits can’t come as fast; and now we have a communication opportunity with you.

Your chapter’s board is a pretty tight knit group, and we have to make sure we’re taking care of each other as well as the programming. Which means, to do OUR best, that we will not be having a 2019 Topeka Bronze Quill. We ARE, however, partnering with the Kansas City chapter of IABC to do a collaborative event. More opportunity, more categories, more diverse judges. As a team, we are very excited about this, and we hope you and your team will start preparing now for your 2019 KC Metro Bronze Quill. Submissions will be accepted in April, with an event in July. You’ll still be eligible for member submission rates, and our chapter will be coordinating group transportation into KC for the awards.

March’s programming looks at the intersection of professional copy and prose with local author, poet, and playwright, Huascar Medina. Join us March 6 at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, and if you’d like to join the future of Topeka IABC, contact me about joining the board.